Stress kills, so try a new action-meditation

Commentary: Bill Gross uses yoga: You can run, hike, judo or fish

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Ask any expert, stress kills, especially when there’s no let up. Like right now as the holiday season kicks into high gear. We all want to enjoy, be happy, have fun. Unfortunately today’s stressors not only won’t let up, they’re getting worse.

That’s right: Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse with the Congressional supercommittee’s super failure to deal with America’s economic problems, this news flash from Paris: The prestigious Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is now warning world leaders: “Prepare to face the worst.”

Getting energized

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Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, incorporates regular, customized workouts at the hotel's gyms into his fitness routine. A key strategy for him is doing it early, so he's "pumped up" for the rest of the day, and incorporating variety in his flexibility, strength and cardio training.

In its latest economic outlook, the OECD warns that the European Union is also a super failure. Not only is the EU’s debt crisis metastasizing across the developed world, there’s a danger it will become a global contagion with “highly devastating outcomes.”

Get it? More stress. Lots more. And it’s not going to let up, not for Americans, not for the EU and other developed nations. Thanks to inept leaders in the U.S. and EU the entire world may soon be in a global recession … upstaging Santa, elves, reindeer and his sledge full of toys that make the kid in each of us happy. Bah humbug.

OK, so everybody’s stressed out! Had enough? Here’s how you can destress, calm-down, lower your blood pressure for Santa. Try my new meditations. I know you hate sitting meditation, so I’m going to let you in on my famous no-sitting, destressing method.

This started with something Pimco’s Bill Gross said several years ago, got me “thinking outside the box” about sitting meditation. Bill said: “Yoga is great physical training, not something spiritual or religious. I want to be as effective as I can be in my job. It’s results-driven. And the results are remarkable.” Get it? Moving meditation works for action-oriented folks on Wall Street: And Bill needs it, his firm manages over a trillion dollars.

New research: Stress is healthy, you need action-oriented meditations

Years ago I discovered that sitting meditation doesn’t work for 80% of busy Americans. Sitting may work for monks in monasteries. But don’t be misled by America’s naïve media. They’re enamored with monks sitting, eyes closed, chanting mantras. Forget sitting. There are millions like you who “hate sitting like a monk, prefer sweating like a jock.”

In researching my “Millionaire Code” book, a psychological study of the wealth-building habits of investors, I discovered that sitting works best for maybe 20% of you. But it is not the best way for the other 80% to meditate. Get it? 4 of 5 of you are naturally suited to physical meditations, not sitting passively like a monk playing mind games. So odds are that sitting is not the best way for you either — not if you want the benefits of stress reduction, physical health, increased energy, higher productivity, and success on the bottom line.

Passive sitting meditation was developed over many centuries by spiritual masters who believe stress is a mental “problem.” Your “monkey brain” must be silenced, controlled. But new scientific research by modern sports psychologists has discovered just the opposite.

The new research proves stress is actually natural and healthy. So rather than eliminate stress, like the sitting monks, today’s sports psychologists begin with the premise that stress is positive, healthy, natural. In fact, under pressure stress helps us build inner strength, hone our character, handle even more stress, and reach new levels of performance.

In short, while monks fight stress, jocks work with it. So if you’re one the 4 of 5, get into action!

My short course: New Meditation for People Who Just Can’t Sit Still

So here’s “The Only Guide to Meditation & Stress Management You’ll Ever Need,” from my “Millionaire Meditation” guide: Four simple rules that work in all meditation systems, ancient and modern, personal and institutional, secular and spiritual. And you don’t need a guru. This short course works for anyone, anywhere, any activity, any time:

One: Focus on what you’re doing in this moment — and nothing else!

Two: Anything you’re doing can become a meditation — anything!

Three: Trust yourself, the results are within you — discover your way!

Four: Keep it real simple, everybody meditates, it happens naturally!

Study the new research and you’ll be amazed to see how many Americans are doing things they love, and in the process, naturally meditating without knowing it. America already has 30 million runners, 72 million hikers, 50 million fishing, 25 million golfers, 85 million cycling, 25 million in tennis — tens of millions of active folks like you all meditating naturally, “focusing on what they’re doing in this moment.” Listen to a few examples that are my pre-Christmas gift to you, so you can de-stress, enjoy the family, and even succeed in gyrating markets:

Marjorie Adams, publisher, Bottom Line Personal newsletter

“Truthfully, I hate to meditate … Sitting still is not the only way to meditate. It’s simply the best known … You can meditate while exercising … pursuing a hobby … or playing a game … anything can be a meditation.”

Andy O’Keefe, Wall Street broker, in ‘Real Men Do Yoga’

“I’m married with seven kids. Been on Wall Street for 20 years. I’m the owner of a brokerage firm: 110 employees. I’m 6’4”, 225 pounds. I’ve lifted weights for years … run. … played lacrosse … basketball, football … I love sports. … I just thought yoga was … a weird Eastern thing. But that’s not true at all. … I feel stronger, more flexible. And it’s helped me with my golf … Mentally, it kind of clears your head. You can’t think about anything, but what you’re doing while you’re in there. It’s a good escape for me.”.

Deepak Chopra, M.D. in ‘The A.I.M. of Golf’

“When Mitchell (Spearman, golf instructor) and I first spoke, he remarked, ‘The spiritual stuff you think about is something I frequently experience on the golf course. I wish I could experience it when I’m not playing golf.’ I responded, ‘That’s how I feel most of the time, but I lose it when I play golf.’ We made a deal. I would teach Mitchell the rules that make the game of life a joyful, ecstatic expression. Mitchell would teach me the rules that make the game of golf a joyful, ecstatic experience. Guess what. They are the same rules.”

Sam Keen, philosopher, in ‘Hymns to an Unknown God’

“Sitting meditation, like repentance, is work … Walking, by contrast, is pure grace, an effortless art that produces surprising moments of spontaneous self-transcendence. When I walk, my mind leaps ahead, skips steps, and presents me with images and ideas out of nowhere. With surprising regularity the thoughts that come to me when I am on a long hike in the hills contain the breakthrough insights I have been unable to reach after weeks of hard intellectual or emotional work.”

Ryel Kestenbaun, in ‘The Ultralight Backpacker’

“Our brains are so used to being fed a constant diet of stimulation … You can practice meditation anywhere, at any time — sitting in your car at a red light, eating dinner at a restaurant, and yes, backpacking along a trail. The most profound meditative states I’ve ever reached came while walking by myself along a trail deep in the backcountry, immersed completely in the world around me and within my own self. … Nature is one giant meditation room … provides us with an opportunity to turn down the volume of our everyday lives and become utterly connected with who we truly are.”

Martha Clopfer, in ‘Positive Addictions’ by William Glasser M.D.

“Meditative is probably the best single word but it is different from Quaker meeting type meditation. … The rhythm of running is a strong element. Sometimes problems get solved while I am running or I think of things to say to people but it is not a figuring out process. More of a sudden flash of insight that comes when you are least trying to find an answer.”

Chuck Norris, martial arts champion, ‘The Secret Power Within’

“Your mind is not here,” he said … students of martial arts soon learn that their teachers can see right through them. Standing there on the hard ground in Korea, I just bowed my head slightly and waited for Mr. Shin to continue. ‘What you are doing at the moment must be exactly what you are doing at the moment — and nothing else’ … get to the bottom line.”

Robert Pirsig, in ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’

“Just to sit with the line in the water,” fishing, “not moving, not really thinking about anything, not really caring about anything either, seems to draw out the inner tensions and frustrations that have prevented you from solving problems you couldn’t solve before.” Which reminds me of a police commander who told me he meditated when his wife went to Sunday church, while gardening in their back yard.

Julia Cameron, on journal writing in ‘The Artist’s Way’

“Morning Pages are my way of meditating … three pages a day … they work for anyone, for painters, for sculptors, for poets, for actors, for lawyers, for housewives, for anyone who wants to try anything creative ... Lawyers who use them swear they make them more effective in court. … They are a potent form of meditation for hyperactive Westerners.”

Bottom line: Meditation is not what you think. No big secrets, no mantras, incense, bells, strange music, no sitting and no gurus. Meditation is as simple and natural as breathing.

Yes, most gurus will still defend sitting as the only way. But remember, from the psychological perspective, sitting meditation works for only 20%. The other 80% actively meditate. And they often do it without “thinking” they’re meditating, without even calling it “meditation.” You do what you love. Make whatever you’re doing at the moment exactly what you are doing at that moment, and nothing else. Be at peace, you are alive.

If there is a secret, the secret is that you can’t “not meditate,” that’s impossible. We do it naturally. It just happens. We do it often during the day, breathing, reading, rocking to music, walking, praying, exercising, sports, affirming goals, working on a positive mental attitude.

Many years ago Zen master Alan Watts asked mythologist and swimmer Joseph Campbell how he meditated. Campbell said reading was his favorite meditation … well, guess what, you’ve been “meditating” all along, with me, while reading this column.

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